Ferrari Chief Set to Run Italian Business Group

Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is set to take charge of Confindustria, Italy's powerful industrialists' federation which has suffered a loss of prestige in recent years.

Di Montezemolo, a widely respected businessman with a high international profile, was left as the only candidate for the Confindustria hotseat after his rival withdrew from the race.

"By now it's in the pocket," said Umberto Agnelli, chairman of the Fiat Group which controls Ferrari - a luxury sportscar maker and one of Italy's most famous brands.

"I hope both for him and for Confindustria that his nomination coincides with a good period," he told reporters.

The new Confindustria chairman will formally be appointed on March 11, bringing an end to the four-year reign of Antonio D'Amato, whose chairmanship has been marred by abrasive, unproductive relations with both unions and government.

D'Amato was seen as close to the thousands of small and medium-sized companies that form the backbone of the Italian economy while the 56-year-old di Montezemolo is a member of Italy's industrial elite.

He will take charge of Confindustria at a particularly difficult time, with Italy reeling from the multi-billion euro scandal at food group Parmalat which has seriously dented investor confidence in Italian business.

Italy is also struggling to kick-start its stalled economy and is progressively losing international market share thanks to the high euro and the high cost of domestic labour.

Ferrari has been one of Italy's few export success stories in recent years, with di Montezemolo turning the firm into a profitable concern on the back of its Formula One team.

Isolation

D'Amato regularly accused Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of not doing enough to reform the economy. His relations with the big three unions were also strained, which left him isolated at negotiations over government welfare and business policy.

Berlusconi, who is Italy's richest man, is a big fan of di Montezemolo and political sources say he tried to persuade him to become industry minister when he swept to power in 2001. Di Montezemolo laid out his plans for Confindustria in a letter published last month in Italian newspaper Il Foglio.

"Today more than ever it is important that the industrial sector stands united," he wrote, adding that the business world had to play its part in modernising Italy.

There must be "tight-knit co-operation between large, medium and small-sized industrial concerns ... to give clout to industry's voice", he said.

Di Montezemolo was trained as a lawyer in Rome and New York, but then worked for Ferrari, test driving its lean machines and managing its racing team for company founder Enzo Ferrari.

After a stint at Fiat, he took over in 1984 as managing director of drinks maker Cinzano, where he refused to give up his passion for competitive sport, putting together the first Italian yacht to sail in the Americas Cup - the Azzurra.

From there it was an obvious step to run the team that organised the 1990 soccer World Cup in Italy.

In 1991 he became chief executive and chairman of Ferrari, transforming the small racing car unit into a worldwide money spinner, and signing up German driver Michael Schumacher to help revive the Formula One squad's fortunes.

Agnelli said last Friday that when di Montezemolo took charge of Confindustria, he would not cut his links to Ferrari, which is headquartered in the northern town of Maranello.

"He will remain in Maranello, but certainly the (Ferrari) organisation will have to be reviewed," he said.